ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday warned opposition parties against marching on the federal capital of Islamabad, saying they should not enter "a dead-end street where there is no way back."

The statement follows a call from the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) religious party for its supporters to march on Islamabad to demand total abolition of petroleum levy, a tax imposed on fuel that has become a major source of federal revenue. JI leadership and supporters have been en route to Islamabad from Karachi via train since Sunday for the demonstration.

The JI's protest call comes ahead of a planned march on the capital by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party on Sept. 27 to demand the ex-premier's release from the prison, with a court ruling on Sept. 14 that no political party had the right to occupy any public roads, toll plazas, buildings or other such places in Islamabad.

Speaking at a press conference, Interior Minister Naqvi criticized the PTI government in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province for engaging in party politics while ignoring the law-and-order situation and the killings of security men in recent attacks in the restive province that borders Afghanistan.

"They should not go into a situation, a dead-end street where there is no way back. On the other hand, if they come for a long march, then, as we discussed last time, there is nothing that we will miss this time, or there is a loophole that we will miss," Naqvi said.

"The majority of people do not want to go for a long march, but if they do go for a long march, then the Islamabad High Court's order is in place, and the government will have to act on it."

JI chief Naeem-ur-Rehman announced on Saturday that their march will head from Karachi to Rohri in Sindh and onwards to Multan via train, adding that thousands of supporters will head toward Islamabad from Multan via road to protest petroleum levy.

Pakistan’s government levies Rs114 [$0.41] per liter in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 [$0.36] per liter on diesel.

The government has regularly increased the prices of petroleum products as the United States-Iran war and increasing attacks by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia drive up global oil prices. A liter of petrol currently costs Rs389.14 [$1.4], while that of high-speed diesel is priced at Rs424.04 [$1.53] in the country.

JI has been staging sit-ins in Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and in dozens of other cities across the country since last month, demanding the government abolish the levy.

Its march on Islamabad is expected to pose a major challenge to the government as it coincides with PTI's march on the capital to demand the release of its leader, who has been in jail since Aug. 2023 on a slew of charges that his party says are politically motivated.

On Sunday, police detained Khan's sister Aleema Khan in Lahore, an official administrative order stated, amid reports of arrests of dozens of PTI supporters as the party gears up for the anti-government march.

Aleema was detained under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, 1960. Pakistani media reported on Monday that two other sisters of Khan, Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan, had also been detained under the same law, which empowers authorities to arrest a person to maintain public order and extend the period of such detention for a period not exceeding six months at a time.

Interior Minister Naqvi said at Monday's presser that the protests would harm the country's economy.

"You can never achieve anything from such atrocities," he said. "Get out of all this politics of yours, and the approach that you are taking. Do not harm yourself and your people."